TLC burst onto the hip hop and
pop music scene in 1991. The female trio from
Atlanta, GA consists of Tionne
"T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left
Eye" Lopes and Rozanda
"Chilli" Thomas. TLC became known
for their street savvy outfits with dangling
condom accessories with their first LP, and
then as sexy, talented singers with their
sophomore release. The trio combination mixes
their talents with T-Boz's sultry vocals,
Chilli's R&B sound, and Left Eye's bold
rapping. TLC got together when T-Boz and Left
Eye hooked up with a woman in Atlanta putting
together a girl group. The two felt more
compatible with each other and went off on
their own. T-Boz and Left Eye then hooked up
with Pebbles and Dallas
Austin, and soon Chilli completed the trio.

In between LP releases, TLC was
making news with the arrest of Left Eye for
arson - she had torched her boyfriend's
(Andre Rison of the Atlanta Falcons) house.
Left Eye avoided jail time with a drinking
defense and was served with five years
probation. More press seemed to cover Left
Eye's actions than the often violent
relationship itself. Not thrilled with her
defense attorneys highlighting her drinking
to keep her out of jail or accusations of
being a "crazy bitch," Left Eye
found it necessary to succeed with her music
even more. "The best way for me to get
those people back is to succeed. I didn't
struggle this far to have people tear me
down. I came out of some s*** where it was,
like, I didn't know what I was doing. I
finally started looking at myself like I'm
worth something, and it's because I've
accomplished everything people told me I
wouldn't. The best way for me to get people
back is to come back out even harder."

TLC achieved even more success
with their sophomore release - CrazySexyCool. The trio hit #1 with
the first 3 releases: "Creep," "Red Light Special," and "Waterfalls." CrazySexyCool continued to showcase
TLC's female strength with the addition of
sexuality in the music - the LP transformed
the trio into womanhood. The LP had help with
producing by Dallas Austin and Babyface and also included the
track "Kick Your Game" and Prince-cover "If I Was
Your Girlfriend." The LP sold over 11
million copies in the U.S. TLC hit the Top 40 with "Creep."

TLC hit the Top 10 with "Creep." TLC topped the Billboard R&B
Singles chart for 9 weeks, the R&B
Singles Sales chart for 10 weeks, and the Hot
Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for 8
weeks with "Creep." The single "Creep" was certified
gold.

Throughout the rise to success,
T-Boz continues to deal with her battle
against sickle cell anemia. The illness has
forced her to "fake and smile when I
wasn't happy, to sing when I didn't feel like
it, to do stuff ... just to please my
fans." T-Boz was named spokeswoman for
the national Sickle Cell Association.

Chilli and Dallas Austin became
parents and TLC announced that the producer
would not be helping out with their next LP
due to financial disputes. Left Eye told MTV:
"I'm just gonna be honest with
everybody... Dallas recorded some songs with
TLC that we hadn't yet gone into record, but
Dallas tried to charge us $4.2 million, so he
might not be on the project. So, we been
fighting with Dallas for about 10 months. We
have not yet gone to the studio yet, and hey,
don't get mad at me, I just have to tell it
like it is... He came down but, he charged us
more than Babyface!" Chilli then
told MTV that Dallas would be working on the
next LP in some capacity.

The first single heard on radio
from TLC's 3rd LP Fanmailwas "Silly
Ho"
quickly followed by the more pop-friendly,
"No
Scrubs."
Chilli told USA
Today about TLC's return: "I'm
excited, but a little nervous. You want your
fans to like you still and you wonder if they
are going to get into us again." TLC hit the Top 40 with "No
Scrubs."
Fanmail topped the Billboard
R&B Album chart for 4 weeks.

Fanmail was certified 3x
platinum. "No
Scrubs"
topped the Billboard Top 40 Tracks chart for
a week. Left Eye took some time off to
return to her hometown in Philadelphia to
attend a high-school prom with a fan, who
requested the date in letter.

Fanmail was certified 4x
platinum. TLC hit the Top 40 with "Unpretty." Left Eye told
MTV about the single": "It's a
great message. It's very uplifting. I makes
you, you know, dig down deep... really think
about some things... if you listen to the
words... and really take them to heart, maybe
you will start to see things in a different
perspective."

Left Eye raised some eyebrows
with comments to Vibe: "I've graduated
from this era. I cannot stand 100% behind
this TLC project and the music that is
supposed to represent me."

The verbal sparring between
members of TLC continued in the pages of Entertainment
Weekly - first T-Boz and Chilli spoke
out about Left Eye's lack of involvement with
the group, and then Left Eye responded with
her own criticisms and a challenge for her
bandmates: "Let it be understood that I
am interested in making multimillion-dollar
business deals. It seems that my two group
members are not. This poses a serious
conflict. Therefore, I propose 'The
Challenge'. I challenge Tionne
"Player" Watkins and Rozanda
"Hater" Thomas to an album entitled
The Challenge. A 3 CD set that
contains three solo albums. Each...will be
due to the record label by October 1, 2000...
After careful analysis of the tangled
political web woven by my associates, I place
the burden of TLC's future in their
hands..."

TLC won an American Music
Award for Favorite R&B
Band/Duo/Group and were also nominated for
Favorite R&B Album. TLC were also nominated for a
Brit Award for Best International Group. TLC returned to the Top 40 with
"Dear
Lie."

TLC won 2 Soul Train Music
Awards for Best R&B/Soul Single, Group,
Band or Duo ("No
Scrubs")
and Best R&B/Soul Album, Group, Band or
Duo and were also nominated for Best
R&B/Soul or Rap Album (Fanmail). TLC were nominated for a Kids'
Choice Award for Favorite Musical Group. TLC won a Brit Award for Best
International Group. Left Eye topped the charts in
the UK with Melanie C of the
Spice
Girls with "Never Be The Same
Again." Left Eye talked with MTV about a
solo project: "I would like to have Lenny
Kravitz on my project as well as Prince... there's so many
people that I want to work with that I think
I'm going to have to put out a double
CD."

It was announced that T-Boz is
pregnant and will marry rapper Mack
10. T-Boz also made this year's
listing of People's "50 Most
Beautiful People."

TLC were nominated for a
VH1/Vogue Fashion Award for Most Stylish
Band.

TLC were nominated for 2 Soul
Train Lady of Soul Awards for Best
R&B/Soul Single - Solo and R&B/Soul
or Rap Song of the Year ("Unpretty"). Left Eye talked with MTV about
her plans for a solo LP next year: "It's
just an outlet for me to be creative and
basically I'm on my own terms... this is my
chance to try to do all that Lisa feels
without being held back."

Left Eye Lopes was reportedly
missing for several days after not showing up
for a family gathering and missing a press
conference.

Lopes was reported to
be recording another solo LP for Suge
Knight's Tha Row and record under the name
"N.I.N.A." or "New Identity
Non-Applicable."

Tragedy struck TLC when Lisa
Lopes was killed in a car crash in Honduras
on April 25th. She was 30 and on vacation in
Honduras. Watkins and Thomas said through a
statement: "We had all grown up together
and were as close as family. Today we have
truly lost our sister." Thomas later said there are no
plans to replace Lopes and a 4th TLC LP will
be finished and released in the future:
"As for Lisa being replaced... never.
You can't replace a TLC girl. The chemistry
we have is something God gave us. You can't
put that together." The LP was started
at the end of 2001 but put on hold when
Watkins had to be hospitalized for 2 months
due to her sickle cell anemia.

T-Boz and Chilli were back in
the studio working on the group's fourth LP.
The LP is anticipated to be released in the
fall and will include much of the vocals
Lopes had finished before her death.

T-Boz and Chilli appeared at the
MTV Video Music
Awards to recognize a scholarship
program set up in honor of Lisa Lopes - 'The
Lisa Lopes AIDS Scholarship.'

TLC released their next LP, 3D. The LP was unfinished
when Lisa Lopes was killed in April and Lopes
appears on 5 of the LP's tracks. The LP will
also contain a tribute to Lopes with the
track "Turntable." Chilli talked with VH1 about the
future of TLC: "TLC will have a greatest
hits disc. We have songs that the three of us
have recorded together that you havent
heard. Well see what happens. We have a
lot of things to focus on in this project.
Thats hard enough as it is. Well
get past this one and check on the other
stuff tomorrow. One day at a time,
thats how weve got to take
it." TLC hit the Top 10 with "Girl Talk."

T-Boz and Chilli started looking
for a 3rd member using reality TV to document
the process with the show R U The Girl
With T-Boz And Chilli which aired on
UPN. The winner, O'so Krispie, teamed up with
T-Boz and Chilli with "R U The Girl (I
Bet)."

Note: Song title and
position links lead you to the song's Top
40 chart run (from the ARC Weekly Top
40)
and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound
samples).